Dozens Speak Against Proposed State Police Firearm Range In State Forest In Glastonbury

GLASTONBURY — Dozens of speakers had one message Thursday night for the state police officials who plan to build a new firearms training facility: "Not in my state forest."

Hundreds of residents, joined by many who want to protect the state's second largest state forest, packed the Riverfront Community Center for an informational meeting Thursday.

The state Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection is in the early stages of planning a proposed 55,000-square-foot facility that would be placed on 30 acres within the Meshomasic State Forest near Marlborough.

The proposal includes two single-story range control towers, a pistol range, an active shooter training range, rifle range, shotgun range and 125 parking spaces. A large building, or several buildings, would house classrooms for 100 troopers or cadets, indoor ranges and vaults for ammunition and firearms. The facility would replace one in Simsbury that is outdated.

The entire state legislature delegation that represents Glastonbury opposed the plans, including state Reps. Prasad Srinivasan and Joseph Diminico and state Sen. Steve Cassano.

Srinivasan received the loudest cheer when he called the plan an "atrocity" and then rebutted state police spokesman Lt. J. Paul Vance's "We want to be a good guest" comment with "Who invited you?" quip.

"We know we need a state-of-the-art facility — that is not debatable," he said. "But Glastonbury is not that site."

"This is not against the troopers or state police," Cassano said, "but this is about quality of life … We can't allow the state to covert a state park or state forest into something else. Once you lose its beauty, it is gone."

Many of the more than 60 speakers commented about the potential for noise and safety concerns. Others spoke about the precedent that would be set if the state took away a piece of pristine forest. One man said he could deal with a "carnival range, no problem, but this is the Disneyland of ranges." Others asked the state police to look into brownfields or other areas away from homes that might be more suitable for a range.

Glastonbury residents Melissa Pericolosi and Jeanee Rubano, who have started paper and online petition drives to stop the facility from being built, said they plan to continue acquiring signatures until the proposal "goes away." The pair say they have collected more than 1,500 signatures so far.

"How do we explain to our children the difference between good gunfire and bad gunfire?" resident David Baker said. "A culture of guns is not what you want for your community. We take our outdoors very seriously."

Doug Fraser, a professor from Sienna College who has studied the endangered timber rattlesnake in the Meshomasic since the mid-1980s, said the protected species will be put at risk if the facility is built.

"You will subtract critical habitat and cause direct mortality. This is totally inappropriate," he said.

Resident Gerhard Schade, president of the Kongscut Land Trust, said the town, state and The Nature Conservancy have acquired 1,500 acres in the area since 1988.

"It boggles the mind that we've been working so hard to conserve and add to the forest, and we are considering a massive development. This land was set aside for conservation."